Scary but in a Beautiful Way

Right now, here in Africa, it is a bit cold and rain is coming every day. I wish it was just rain though. With rain comes thunder and lighting. In the beginning the rains were just during the day, but now it comes at night also. Here in Tanzania lighting is very different, than what I was used to in Florida.  It is much brighter and much scarier, but in a beautiful way. Thunder here is like a huge pounding on top of your head, so loud so powerful.

Now imagine three little girls sleeping at night through that. Saturday night, we all were asleep and then the storm came. The girls woke up and started crying.  I woke up scared as well, and started walking through the house. I kept thinking, “I am going to get struck by lightning!” It was terrifying but I still had to.  I couldn’t just leave the girls to cry in the night. Fighting my fear I went in to the girl’s room and found them standing in their little beds crying. I picked up each and every one of them one by one; assuring them that it was all okay, that it was just nature doing its wonderful works. I told them that God had created this powerful scenery for a reason, to remind us of His great power. After I assured them that no matter what I was there, they felt better, and it aroused my feelings of love for them. Feeling needed, feeling loved, the best feeling in the world is being a mom to my girls here. It reminded me how much these three little girls depend on me. I would not change that for the world. We prayed together and then we all went back to sleep, relaxed knowing that everything was okay.

English AND Kiswahili

One day, when all of us were home for the afternoon, I was playing with the girls. It was raining outside and there was no power (The power goes out quite regularly here). The girls speak two languages English and Kiswahili. They speak Kiswahili better than I do of course, since it is their native language. I had spent time with them before, teaching them all their body parts from their hair down to their chins. But this day we were working on learning some other parts like, arm, hand, tummy etc.

We were sitting down with a book that had pictures of the body with different parts labeled. I was telling them in English and out of nowhere the girls started to say them in Kiswahili. I was shocked. We had just started to learn them, and yet my little girls already knew so much. This showed me again how smart my precious girls already are. They never heard these words from me, or I do not think I ever used them. It reminded me too, that they are always learning, from everyone around them, not just me. ! We had fun teaching each other the names in English and Kiswahili!  So, that day I truly believe that both the girls and I learned something new! Life is an adventure with lots to learn here in Tanzania, even on a rainy day with no electricity!